Shanghai Singapore International School. Oh, where do I begin? My friends working in education really want a post about my school. I really want to tell you about it. There is so much to say, but it just isn’t the most interesting narrative. This post is for the Cassadies, the Sallys, and the Peters of my world that will totally sink their teeth into this international teaching business we have gotten ourselves into. The rest of you will all have…

In stressful scenarios I find myself practicing visualization. For both deliveries of my kids, when I am about to teach a difficult lesson in class, that plane ride…I like to visualize what a positive process and outcome will look like. It works for me. Before we arrived in this new life I just couldn’t visualize this transition to Shanghai for the kids. I had a vague idea that there would be a lot of “hurry up and wait” and I…

With all of the preparations, planning, paper work and good byes, I was certainly ready, and excited to catch the flight to Shanghai. I was ready to take that next step. But, I was nervous, of course. I had been dwelling for weeks, if not months, on taking my 4 and 6 year old kids on that flight. That 13 hour flight. LA to Shanghai had been in my thoughts, in my nightmares, too. We have all heard, or even…

Is it ironic that this blog begins with a goodbye? Either way, adios, auf wiedersehen, or actually it’s zaijian now. I am both totally ready to get the hell out of here, and absolutely not ready to leave this place. This place is home. Support, community, the familiar (so very familiar). How will I survive? And Aaron? The kids? “Jannie, we need to go to the clinic to meet with the doctors about the Z-Pac and anti-nausea meds we want…